What is it? Jamaican rum from molasses, distilled in a pot still. Aged in both Caribbean and the UK, in ex-American oak casks for a total of 8 years before being bottled in 2015.

Colour looks pretty natural, filtered and bottled at 43% abv.

Sugar? Nope

Nose: Yum. Rocky coves, seaweed, shellfish. Notes of warm cut grass, a bit of engine oil/tar/diesel….yeah, definitely some engine oil, or maybe grease. Some olive-y, pickled vegetable tang and the smell you get on your hands after handling steel or iron tools. It’s very “outside” smelling. There’s even a touch of bbq charcoal and mint right deep down and at the end too. Very intriguing and interesting (read: good) layers to this indeed.

Palate: Immediate funky and ester’y delivery, dry and quite a good medium mouth-feel. Fruits (sour and at the same time slightly sweet), some light toffee and brown sugar and then the end of a chewed pencil. Sooty ash, salt, salted liquorice, salted olives, salty seaweed, salted salt. It’s quite coastal and salty. Tiny bit of aniseed in there too.

Finish: Quite long, slightly hot despite the 43%. Seems to want to go to the sweeter side and does show the butterscotch that it mentions on the back label, but not in droves. Just as the sweetness starts to settle in the sooty ash comes back and finish fades off with the rock pool and bbq charcoal.

Thoughts? A very busy and complex young rum! Cracking stuff this. It’s a bit challenging and it’s not for someone who likes their sweetened rums, I mean, there are some fruits and a bit of toffee in there but it’s really not that type of rum at all. I could spend a lot of time getting to know this one, love it.